7 to 12 months

Everyday household objects such as spoons and pots or coasters make the best and most inexpensive baby toys at this stage of babyhood. They are new and exciting to the baby and best of all, these items are used by you. Infants approaching toddlerhood also show preference for scaled down versions of adult props that make noise, are colorful and are textured such to appeal to baby's sensibilities. Examples are plastic keys, dishes and spoons, hammers etc.

Shaper sorters with subtle differences in shape and size attract older infants. They don't yet understand the concept behind spatial relationships so simpler varieties of shape sorters, stacking cups, stacking rings are preferred. A typical eight-month old infant will start playing filling and dumping: picking up smaller objects such as cubes and cups and dumping them into larger containers or boxes. Once filled, she dumps the whole lot out and starts all over again.

Blocks introduced at six months can now be built into small wobbly towers. Babies prefer knocking over stacks of blocks to stacking them. This is part of normal behavior.

Older babies welcome tub play-sets that stick to the tub with suction cups and have all kinds of interesting attachments such as water wheels, bubble blowers. Babies this age resent bathing; entice them by stocking tubs with exciting tub toys and lessen bath-time

ordeals.

Balls are an all time babies' favorite toy, more so from this age onwards. They are able to maneuver them now more than previously like holding, throwing, rolling when approaching a year old. Make sure balls they play with are too large to fit in their mouths and too hard to bite pieces off with those few teeth they now possess.

Pull toys often perform in some way when the string is pulled. Playing with them teaches baby basic cause and effect. Make sure baby is supervised and string leash is short and strong (under 7 inches) to minimize chances of strangulation. Small-wheeled vehicle such as a miniature car, truck and even animal is another hit item with babies. They love pushing and pulling them.

Pretend play starts to grow in importance for the 10 month-old baby. They mimic you in the kitchen by cooking with real pots and spoons while you prepare meals. They babble into toy phones and real phones. They tend to dolls in the manner they have been tended to. This behavior continues into preschool years with some modifications.

Kitchen cabinet or drawer excites babies aged about eight months onwards for them to stash away their own kitchenware. Bangable, lightweight pots and pans, rounded utensils such as wooden spoons, plastic tupperware of different shapes and sizes can be offered to them and the rest of the stuffs should be locked away. Babies love the nose produced with the banging and pounding. The din gives them a clear message about cause and effect; baby's banging is causing the entire ruckus.

Busy boxes contain more intricate gizmos such as character pop-ups, pretend phone dials that ring. Mostly placed on the floor, choose one with long standing value by seeing to it that they contain lots of sounds, colors and features. Some mobiles come with music boxes; it is time to replace black and white mobiles with colorful versions

Walkers are for babies who are strong enough to pull up on furniture and take some tiny steps with aid. These wheeled items come in the form of wagons, wheeled chairs or anything baby can hold onto and use to propel himself across the floor. Saucer walkers are not recommended due to the high volume of accidents. Despite that, walkers remain a hot favorite.


The final word

Many of the toys if chosen carefully during your baby's late infancy, will be useful during toddlerhood.

Keep a low shelf stocked with baby's favorite books so that she can reach for one when she feels like it. Keep your own books out of baby's reach unless you want them in shreds.

Baby gears should never be bought at secondhand. An old swing or crib or playpen could be quite dangerous without any telltale signs. Don't compromise on baby's products.

Once baby starts to crawl or cruise, you will need to limit his access to parts of the house that are 100% safe. Safety gates are easy to install and mobile enough to be relocated to different parts of house according to need.

If you decide to invest in a walker, choose the new stationary version - a non-mobile play table with a rotating seat. Used in short stints (15-30 mins at a time) walkers can be godsend. You will still need to keep a close watch. When your baby starts to scrunch up her knees every time you place her in the walker, its time for her to walk using her own legs and put the walker away.